Dorcas Brekel (second from left), shown here taking the oath of office, has resigned from the RE-1 Board of Education. Her seat was declared vacant at Monday's meeting. (Journal-Advocate file photo)

STERLING — The RE-1 Valley Board of Education declared the District No. 6 Director seat vacant during a special meeting on Monday, after receiving a letter of resignation from board vice president Dorcas Brekel.

Brekel was not at the meeting.

Her term on the board would have expired later this year following the election; she was term limited and could not run again. Brekel was appointed to the board in December 2004, in 2005 she was elected to a four-year term and in 2009 she ran again, unopposed.

In 2011, both she and board president Eric Windom faced a recall but the effort was unsuccessful due to a lack of signatures.

Brekel's seat must be filled within 60 days. The board approved a director appointment resolution stating they will be accepting applications to fill the position through Friday, Feb. 1, and interviewing candidates at their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19. They anticipate appointing a candidate at that same meeting.

Whoever is appointed to fill her seat will have to run in the 2013 election if they wish to remain on the board.

Brekel and Windom were to be the board representatives for negotiations with the South Platte Education Association. Monday, the board appointed Cody Engelhaupt, who was the alternate, to take her place and Tona Felzien as the new alternate.

No replacement has been decided on yet for the board's vice president position.

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The announcement of the resignation came after the board spent approximately two and a half hours in an executive session to discuss a personnel matter – the superintendent and assistant superintendent's contracts.

No action was taken when they returned to open session.

A second executive session regarding a student matter, which was listed on the agenda for the meeting, did not occur.

In other business, the board accepted the resignation of Kelly Crawford, second grade teacher at Ayres Elementary.

They also approved an endorsed diploma community engagement meeting, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at Hagen Administration Center, as a workshop.

Emmy Glancy, academic policy officer with the Department of Higher Education, and Tamara Johnson, director of admission and access policy, with the DHE, will discuss the work of Colorado's Endorsed Diploma Work Group. They will also answer questions about the benefits for students graduating from Colorado high schools as they pursue higher education opportunities in Colorado's various colleges and universities.

During a work session following Monday's special meeting the board received an updated copy of frequently asked questions regarding the endorsed diploma.

The 11-page document includes definitions for a variety of terms and a history of discussions regarding the endorsed diploma, both at the state and district levels.

RE-1's discussion originally began during the 2007-08 school year, when the board began having conversations about defining the value of an RE-1 diploma and answering the question: "What does an RE-1 diploma mean?"

In 2011, a state task force, which Assistant Superintendent Ron Marostica is part of, was designed to look at a set of recommendations identifying specific criteria a student needs to meet to receive a Post Workforce Readiness (PWR) endorsed diploma.

A table comparing RE-1 and state endorsements is included in the FAQ document.

RE-1 is looking at several endorsement categories including Basic Standards Endorsement, Career Ready Endorsement, Pre-Collegiate Endorsement and PWR Collegiate Endorsement. The PWR Collegiate Endorsement meets the criteria of the state's PWR High School Diploma Endorsement, which is the only category at the state level.

Marostica pointed out that there would still only be one diploma for all students.

“These are simply an opportunity to recognize student's efforts,” he said.

The endorsements would not be required for students to graduate.

Additionally, the FAQ document includes information about the state pilot. RE-1 has been asked to be part of the pilot, but has not yet agreed. Districts must decidewhether to participate in the pilot sometime in the 2012-2013 school year, Marostica recommended not waiting until the end of the school year to decide.

“As a pilot we would be shaping not only what's happening for us, but other districts in the state of Colorado,” he pointed out.

The document also includes information addressing concerns about tracking or labeling, ICAPing and grade requirements.

Plus, it discusses how financial issues are addressed through the district providing several of the guaranteed transfer college courses on site at Sterling and Caliche high schools. These classes are already being offered and would continue to be offered whether or not the endorsements are used.

Superintendent Betty Summers said the FAQ document will be posted on the district website, www.re1valleyschools.org, sometime today.

A parent in the audience, Ray Ann Brammer, said the document doesn't really contain any new information and asked for more information about what exactly RE-1 is planning to do before the Jan. 15 meeting, so that community members can engage in meaningful discussion.

Marostica explained the Response to Intervention (RtI) Committee is still working on the document explaining the details of the different endorsements the district is looking at. They plan to share it with the DHE representatives before the community engagement next week, to get feedback and make sure there's nothing else they need to address before presenting the information to the public.

There was some confusion about whether the board had agreed at a previous meeting to provide that document, along with the FAQ document, at Monday's meeting.

Marostica said he will contact the RtI members by Wednesday to make sure they're okay with sharing the rough draft. A copy of the document should be posted on the district website by Thursday.

It was noted that next week's meeting is primarily so the state officials can share what the state's been working on, not for the district to present information on their plan.

Windom said the board plans to have more community engagement on the topic; this is just the kick off. They will determine how and when the additional engagement will take place following next week's meeting.

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